Worthy to be called an ADVENTURE.

Meandering lazily through shaded woods, enjoying a gorgeous panoramic view of whited mountain peaks and trees, feeling the sun warmly on your back and the breeze in your hair, hearing birds chirp happily from the tree-tops, and savoring the aroma of pine trees. This is why I love the mountains. I don't think that there is anything that can parallel the secluded beauty approaching sacredness that is encountered only after a long, tiring hike to reach a distant peak. Eternal principles must be at work, for it seems that the sacrifice, hard work, and even pain required to reach the top of the mountain are always richly rewarded.
Of course, this describes the ideal hike--but honestly, when have you ever had one of those? Last week I joined a small group of eager friends on an overnight hike through Big Springs up Provo Canyon to Cascade Saddle and down Rock Canyon, and I'm happy to be alive to tell you about it! We had quite the adventure. I don't think words can quite do it justice--I only wish I could share a little bit of the rain with you to help bring it to life. We started out in the evening, at about 7 and waved down a friendly truck driver to give us a lift for the first couple of miles up the windy road. An hour or so of hiking up the trail we looked like this:


Still dry, fresh, happy and mostly, still dry. Our objective was that distant peak at the top of the pictures that we are all pointing at. Little did we know what that night held in store for us. But neither could we imagine the beauty of the morning.

Aching legs, sore feet, various snow patches and a few hours later, we reached the top of the saddle and in the moonlight looked out over fleeting clouds and unending mountain ranges. Isn't this incredible?

Rachel and I--still somewhat dry and warm:



After a gourmet meal of hot dogs and warm chili, exhaustion hit us and we realized that we needed to find some place to sleep. Raindrops and threatening clouds in the north-east hurried us in our search; however, at the top of the mountain there are few flat areas for a good campground, so we settled for an area on a steep hill under a group of trees that we hoped would offer a little protection from the coming rain. The darkness and our exhaustion hid the rocks and tree roots that made our beds, and we all settled down at the base of different trees just as it really started to rain. "It is going to be a long night...." I thought as I drifted off into unsettled sleep.
This is the hill sporting Cynthia's sopping sleeping bag at about 3 am that morning:

The boys gave up their somewhat-drier sleeping bags to the other girls who were miserably wet and cold--real heroes.

This is Rachel and my little nook at the base of two trees. One tree was my pillow, the other was my foot rest. It was actually relatively comfortable until the pool of water formed beneath me. We were completely wet at this time and just a little bit cold, but still smiling. Finally we had sat up because it was raining and dripping on our faces and further sleep was out of the picture. This sleepless night led to deep, intellectual conversation about life and the stupidity of humans that would impel them to exchange their warm, soft, dry beds for wet, rocky, muddy beds at the top of mountains. I remember commenting at one point in our only somewhat coherent conversation, "Rachel, do you remember all those times in our lives that we were warm and dry?" She laughed, but I was serious. Conjuring up memories of warm times seemed the best activity to help pass the dreary night.


The morning light brought relief from the dreary night. The picture doesn't really portray it well, but if you look closely you can see that our sweatshirts are completely wet and even though my blanket looks warm, I probably could have wrung streams of water from it.

Despite the wet and miserable night, lightening sky revealed beautiful landscapes that filled my soul with awe. I loved being above the clouds!


This is the view of the other side of the ridge, heading down towards Rock Canyon. Incredible!



Five hours and a long rainstorm later we finally reached the bottom and long-awaited warm showers! I don't know if I'd be willing to knowingly suffer through another rainy night like that one, but I will admit that it was most definitely a memorable and primarily enjoyable experience! I want to go back and do it again without the rain and with a tarp, just in case. Have you ever had crazy, unexpected adventures that are unforgettable? This trip will be numbered among my favorites.